The Cardinals will have to get by without their closer for the start of the season.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatchreports that Jason Motte was diagnosed with a “mild strain” of his right elbow following an MRI. The Cardinals plan to shut him down for at least the next week, so with the start of the season just nine days away, a stint on the disabled list is inevitable.

Motte felt discomfort in his elbow after his most recent appearance Thursday afternoon against the Mets. He was sent for an MRI yesterday after the pain intensified. There’s no clear timeline for his return, as the Cardinals will try to get the inflammation to subside and go from there.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said that Mitchell Boggs will get the first opportunity to fill in at closer during Motte’s absence. The 29-year-old right-hander had a 2.21 ERA and 58/21 K/BB ratio over 73 1/3 innings last season. Losing one of the best closers in the game obviously hurts, but the Cardinals have no shortage of quality arms.

They were expected to activate Harper yesterday but they didn’t because Harper was suffering from an illness. He’s better today so he should be in the lineup against the Phillies.

Harper has been out since August when he slipped on a wet first base bag and was diagnosed with a bone bruise in his left knee. That interrupted an MVP-caliber season in which he was hitting .326/.419/.614 with 29 home runs, 87 RBI, and 92 runs scored in 472 plate appearances. While the postseason awards are out of his reach, the Nats will be content to get him back up to speed in time for what looks to be a first round playoff matchup against the Chicago Cubs.

Now, a little over a week before the Indians begin the defense of their American League pennant, Bauer is embroiled in further drone drama. He tweeted this afternoon that his drone “IronMan” has been stolen. He has implored the public for Iron Man’s safe return so that he need not risk his pinky finger with yet another October drone injury:

Hey. Hey Clague Park drone thief. Please return IronMan to me in a timely manner or you will force me to build a new companion!😤#SaveMyPinky